


The Screaming Rabbits

by TheFlamingDragonfly



Category: Bonanza
Genre: Gen, Halloween Story Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 16:03:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19154356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlamingDragonfly/pseuds/TheFlamingDragonfly
Summary: Halloween story challenge





	The Screaming Rabbits

When the gypsy band arrived in Virginia City, several people investigated out of curiosity. Little Joe Cartwright was no exception, and it was no surprise when he almost immediately fixated on Mara, the beautiful daughter of the band’s leader. The pair spent a great deal of time together, with Joe neglecting his duties on the Ponderosa until Ben Cartwright made it clear that the young man needed to get back on track.

All too soon it was time for the gypsies to move on. Joe’s final day with Mara was filled with walks along the lake and lots of delicious food at a picnic in the camp. Just as the sun was perched on its final descent, Mara pulled Joe to a small wagon that had been set up apart from the camp.

“You must meet Tancy,” Mara explained. “She will give you a blessing if she approves of you.”

Joe smiled indulgently and allowed himself to be led up the steps into the dark interior of the wagon. At first he couldn’t see much—he was struck instead by the sweet scents that filled the wagon. A low mumbling caught his ear.

“Ah, Tancy!” Mara exclaimed, seeming to be able to see someone that Joe could not. “I have brought a visitor. Can you bless him, dear Tancy?”

The mumbling changed into a moan, slowly rising in pitch and intensity until Joe involuntarily stepped back. A pale shape appeared, a face that slowly took shape before Joe and Mara. The unearthly sound grew louder, never pausing, until it became a scream. At the moment of the highest notes, the face became suddenly clear. Joe staggered, nearly falling to his knees, his mouth slack at the sight of the horrible face. 

“No,” he whispered. “No!”

“Tancy!” 

Joe heard Mara’s cry, but the terror that filled him overwhelmed his reason, and he literally tumbled down the steps of the wagon. 

He didn’t remember jumping on his horse and galloping home, and he didn’t remember collapsing into his bed and falling into a deep sleep that would last late into the next day.

He awoke to Ben’s worried expression hovering over him. He subsequently found out how long he had slept and how nothing could awaken him. Doc Martin had even been called, and he had been perplexed by the strangely deep sleep.

When questioned, Joe found that he couldn’t recall anything beyond the picnic with Mara the day before. Sensing his father’s concern, Joe tried to blame exhaustion for his unusual behavior. 

The rest of the day Joe tried to concentrate on the normal chores, but he found himself strangely spooked and jumpy. A flicker of a memory kept flitting through his mind, but if he concentrated on trying to figure out just what he was remembering, he ended up with a headache and an even worse sense of foreboding. 

That night Joe couldn’t get to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw a strange face that seemed vaguely familiar. Restless, he got up and slipped silently out of the house. 

He didn’t know where he was going, and he suddenly realized that he had wandered quite a distance from the house. All around him he heard sounds that were somehow different from the normal nocturnal noises. Fear swept through him; he fervently wished he was back in his bed. He shuffled back toward home, his eyes darting back and forth as the night grew ever more frightening. Just get back home, he muttered to himself. Just get back home.

The scream nearly made him faint from abject terror. At the same time he saw rabbits, everywhere, white-coated, pink eyed, with teeth bared and mouths gaping. The animals converged on him, the scream, he now realized, emanating from their mouths. Joe raised his arms, sudden despair drenching his mind and soul just as surely as if he were drowning under the screams. The rabbits began to transform, taking on human form with deformed faces that were pasty white and with teeth that protruded and with shrieks that demanded his life.

In desperation Joe grabbed a knife—from where it came he did not know—and held the weapon before him. The rabbit-humans paused in their approach, but the screams—the horrid sounds continued unabated. 

“Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself.” The screams had become commands. Horror-struck, Joe felt the words sink into his own throat, forcing him to chant along with the creatures. The knife-holding hand slowly turned toward his own throat, and the rabbit-humans slipped closer.

“Kill yourself. Kill yourself.”

“Joseph!”

Silence. Joe slumped, then sat down hard. The knife tumbled into the dust.

“Little Joe! What on earth are you doing?”

“What?” Joe looked up into the disbelieving face of Doc Martin. “What…what’s going on?”

“I’m asking you the same question!” Doc Martin shook his head as he picked up the knife. “What’re you doing out here, Joe?”

Joe couldn’t answer. He had no memory of coming out into the darkness. He had no idea why he had been about to stab himself. And he had no idea why the sight of a panicked rabbit bounding across his path caused a twinge of panic as he returned to the Ponderosa with Doc Martin.

Epilogue

The next day Doc Martin was called out to the gypsy camp. They had not pulled out as planned because of the sudden illness of one of their elderly women. The doctor did all he could for the woman, but her advanced age made the end inevitable. The gypsies thanked him for his efforts, and he prepared to return to Virginia City. Just as he was about to get into his buggy, Mara stopped him.

She hadn’t wanted to speak in front of anyone else. She was worried about Little Joe Cartwright and wondered if the doctor had seen the young man recently.

Yes, he had. Why was the girl interested?

Mara wanted to know if Joe had been behaving…strangely. If he had tried to…perhaps…harm himself.

Doc Martin have the girl a hard look then, and Mara explained.

The old woman who had just died, Tancy, had been rumored to have some unusual powers. Spells and such. Most didn’t believe it, but Mara had seen enough to be somewhat convinced. 

After asking Tancy to bless Joe, Mara had been horrified to see the opposite happen. For whatever reason, Tancy hadn’t taken a fancy to Joe and had instead cursed him. She had called on the screaming rabbits to haunt Joe and to cause him to harm himself.

Doc Martin shook his head, then told the girl that Joe was just fine and to not worry about him. He said goodbye and urged his horse onto the road. All the way back to Virginia City he mused over the girl’s words and wondered if the old woman’s strange appearance had somehow spooked Joe. Tancy had been an albino, and she had a cleft palate that caused her teeth to protrude.


End file.
